[raj_5004]

hey guys, we are planning to buy a 25-30 seater mini bus for contract carriage purposes, that will add to the fleet of the 49 seater AL buses we recently purchased. the bus should be AC & we are not looking for expensive/hi-tech models from volvo, isuzu or AL.

infact i am planning to buy a chassis & get the body & interiors done at prakash or some other firm.

which one would be appropriate considering my requirements are good FE, low maintainence & cheap spares. i am considering eicher 10.75 or tata 709 chassis. does mahindra (or mahindra navistar) offer the chassis alone, i mean without the ugly body? does AL have a mini bus chassis?

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

which one would be appropriate considering my requirements are good FE, low maintainence & cheap spares. i am considering eicher 10.75 or tata 709 chassis. does mahindra (or mahindra navistar) offer the chassis alone, i mean without the ugly body? does AL have a mini bus chassis?

Raj, before you go for it, for arguments sake, do please check out the new Marco Polo Starbus on the 709 chassis. There is a good difference in build quality and NVH between Starbus (new) and others. But check it out yourself and decide.

[raj_5004]

hey trapezio, can you share the price of the marcopolo starbus? is it available with AC?

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

hey trapezio, can you share the price of the marcopolo starbus? is it available with AC?

I do not know the exact prices for the new Starbus in Kerala. My guess is between 7 to 8 lakhs for fully built bus. You should call up the dealer. Is it Koyenco in Kochi?

Here is whatever little I know.

Its available in 24 seater variant with two engines - 74hp/225Nm (comparable with what you get from Eicher etc) and 100hp/300Nm. There are 32 and 40 seater also. I understand that they have ensured seat space is exactly the same in all the three configurations unlike the 'traditional' way of packing seats in as convenience permits.

Entire bus and not chassis (do not know whether any exceptions are there) comes with 18 month/150,000km warranty including 6 month warranty on the body paint.

They claim that unlike other buses they have ensured chassis/body integration. Traditionally even with fully built buses from manufacturers the chassis is made and transfered to the bus body building unit leading to compromises in integration.

I do not know whether an AC variant is being offered. They used to offer on the old one. Do not know whether its still offered.

[raj_5004]

thanks trapezio. i guess the price will be more than 7-8 lakhs as even the 17 seater non-AC force traveller costs 8 lakhs.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

Raj, before you go for it, for arguments sake, do please check out the new Marco Polo Starbus on the 709 chassis. There is a good difference in build quality and NVH between Starbus (new) and others. But check it out yourself and decide.

709 based buses are the most popular among School buses and Company transporters. We could see lot of 709 Starbuses in Pune and Bomboay roads. But somewhere i read TM is coming out with an entirely new LCV platform by the year end, (may be too late for you.).
Also Force got a 24 seater bus and i saw a "beautiful" Mahindra bus picture in Alma motors website.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

which one would be appropriate considering my requirements are good FE, low maintainence & cheap spares. i am considering eicher 10.75 or tata 709 chassis. does mahindra (or mahindra navistar) offer the chassis alone, i mean without the ugly body? does AL have a mini bus chassis?

You might find it worth considering the Ashok Leyland Lynx - seen quite a lot of them running with Veera Built bodies in Bangalore, with roof mounted ACs. The engine churns out a respectable 120 hp, which is sufficient to power the AC as well (I am not sure if the engine is compatible with a direct-drive AC).

Otherwise, you can go for a short WB Cheetah from Leyland.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

709 based buses are the most popular among School buses and Company transporters. We could see lot of 709 Starbuses in Pune and Bomboay roads. But somewhere i read TM is coming out with an entirely new LCV platform by the year end, (may be too late for you.).
Also Force got a 24 seater bus and i saw a "beautiful" Mahindra bus picture in Alma motors website.

yes, i have seen those mini buses (even the force mini bus) & they look very simple. we need to have a bus which is more stylish.

can you post the website link where you saw the mahindra bus?

thanks.

Originally Posted by binaiks

You might find it worth considering the Ashok Leyland Lynx - seen quite a lot of them running with Veera Built bodies in Bangalore, with roof mounted ACs. The engine churns out a respectable 120 hp, which is sufficient to power the AC as well (I am not sure if the engine is compatible with a direct-drive AC).

Otherwise, you can go for a short WB Cheetah from Leyland.

yes, is the lynx a good platform? i saw the AL long chassis with a 130 bhp engine which can directly power the AC & hence eliminates the need for a seperate engine for the AC. that would be preferable for my needs. but i have not seen the lynx chassis yet.

isnt cheetah a very old platform?

[kavesh55]

Guess this is the best place to post this. Had a bad experience last week, the new BEST MUTP buses with digital destination boards (CNG buses) are horrible. They are extremely slow, dont know on what parameters are the BEST authorities passing the new buses. On a sunday afternoon, what would take less than an hr, took 1.5. There is virtually no acceleration. pity the driver though.

[Trapezio]

@raj and @binai

Is it Lynx or Stag that you are talking about? The Lynx is bigger than 7 tons.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

yes, is the lynx a good platform? i saw the AL long chassis with a 130 bhp engine which can directly power the AC & hence eliminates the need for a seperate engine for the AC. that would be preferable for my needs. but i have not seen the lynx chassis yet.

The Lynx is a very good platform - sells like hotcakes among private stage carriage operators here in Kerala.

Lynx and Stag are pretty similar - Lynx is wider than the Stag, though. Both come with the same engine. Stag is lighter than the Lynx.

I feel it would be worth being considered - perhaps another visit to your dealer to check out the Lynx. I am not sure of the Stag is offered as bare-chassis - have always seen only fully built versions. Lynx is certainly available as chassis.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

isnt cheetah a very old platform?

The platform is surely old - but comes with pretty powerful engines these days.

Originally Posted by Trapezio

Is it Lynx or Stag that you are talking about? The Lynx is bigger than 7 tons.

I was talking about the Lynx - have seen only Lynx being used for AC carriages. I may be wrong - since this is purely based on observation.

[v1kram]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

@raj and @binai

Is it Lynx or Stag that you are talking about? The Lynx is bigger than 7 tons.

Originally Posted by binaiks

The Lynx is a very good platform - sells like hotcakes among private stage carriage operators here in Kerala.


I was talking about the Lynx - have seen only Lynx being used for AC carriages. I may be wrong - since this is purely based on observation.

Lynx is the new favourite among private mini bus operators in TN, other options being TATA 1109. My friend owns a Lynx mini bus in Coimbatore and it does come as bare chassis (one of his viking inter state permit bus is posted in other thread of mine - visit to a bus body building facility and features some Lynx body building under construction).

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by kavesh55

Guess this is the best place to post this.

This is not the best place to post this. There is another thread for City buses which is more appropriate for this post.

Originally Posted by kavesh55

Had a bad experience last week, the new BEST MUTP buses with digital destination boards (CNG buses) are horrible. They are extremely slow, dont know on what parameters are the BEST authorities passing the new buses. On a sunday afternoon, what would take less than an hr, took 1.5. There is virtually no acceleration. pity the driver though.

You must have got a bad driver. The buses are definitely not so bad. Acceleration is good. By the way, there are no MUTP CNG buses. Buses you are referring to are bought with funding from JNNURM.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The Lynx is a very good platform - sells like hotcakes among private stage carriage operators here in Kerala.

Lynx and Stag are pretty similar - Lynx is wider than the Stag, though. Both come with the same engine. Stag is lighter than the Lynx.

I feel it would be worth being considered - perhaps another visit to your dealer to check out the Lynx. I am not sure of the Stag is offered as bare-chassis - have always seen only fully built versions. Lynx is certainly available as chassis.

thanks for the info buddy. if its from AL, its the Lynx, not the stag.

i think the stag & cheetah are pretty dated.

Originally Posted by v1kram

Lynx is the new favourite among private mini bus operators in TN, other options being TATA 1109. My friend owns a Lynx mini bus in Coimbatore and it does come as bare chassis (one of his viking inter state permit bus is posted in other thread of mine - visit to a bus body building facility and features some Lynx body building under construction).

hey vikram, thanks for that info. is it possible to install an AC connected the engine available in the lynx? or does the AC need another engine?

[v1kram]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

hey vikram, thanks for that info. is it possible to install an AC connected the engine available in the lynx? or does the AC need another engine?

Raj, not sure about the AC part though since my friend has a non a/c bus for inside city operations. Parts availabilty will be a major deciding factor (main reason for avoiding TATA buses in down south - as per my friend), i would say it would be safe to go with Lynx.

Btw, congrats on your new venture, closely following your thread.